Southampton 1-3 Brighton: Have a Solly Jolly Christmas

You probably could not go as far as to describe Southampton 1-3 Brighton as a Christmas miracle, which is a bloody shame as regular readers of WAB will know that is a favourite analogy to be wheeled out each and every yule time.

Wins over the Saints have still been few and far enough part to express surprise and delight in equal measure however at just how easily the Albion brushed aside their former player and assistant manager Nathan Jones in his first game in charge of his new team.

Brighton had won just twice at St Mary’s before. When facing Southampton in Sussex, their record is even worse.

Two wins since the 1950s makes for grim reading. The Saints have very much been a bogey team for the Albion for the past 70 years. Things really are changing under Roberto De Zerbi.

Ah, Mister De Zerbi. He said in his post match press conference that this was the first time he felt Brighton had played as he wanted them too, DeZerbiBall in full flow.

When Glow Up Graham Potter walked out in September and took his entire first team coaching staff with him, most of us assumed it would take until after the World Cup break for De Zerbi to properly get a grip on the Albion and make his mark.

It says much about the new head coach and this group of players that they humiliated Chelsea 4-1 at the Amex, eliminated Premier League leaders Arsenal from the Carabao Cup and then came away from Molineux with three precious points all before De Zerbi had a six week mini pre-season of sorts to impart his ideas and philosophy on the squad.

If Southampton 1-3 Brighton is a sign of what is to come in the second half of the campaign, then Albion fans should be very excited.

The rest of the Premier League should be equally worried; the Albion look better now than they have at any other point in their top flight history, De Zerbi having taken all the good Potter did but added goals and a more attack-minded style.

Southampton had no answer to it with Brighton having victory sewn up inside of an hour. The Seagulls’ poor record at St Mary’s meant nothing, neither did this being Jones’ first home league game in charge and the associated new manager bounce which should have come with it.

Brighton too showed no hangover from the shock of being dumped out of the Carabao Cup by League One Charlton Athletic on Wednesday night.

That was a route to potential European football in 2023-24 shut down. But if the Albion keep playing as they did in Southampton 1-3 Brighton, who is to say that De Zerbi will not have the Seagulls visiting Baku on a Thursday night through a seventh placed finish in the league?

Short, sharp passes were used to release Kaoru Mitoma and Solly March in wide areas. Adam Lallana was central to everyone good Brighton did, enjoying the twilight years of his career more than ever. And in Pascal Gross, the Albion have surely the most versatile player in the Premier League?

Having been a revelation at right back just before the winter break, De Zerbi restored Gross to central midfield alongside Moises Caicedo in the absence of World Cup winner Alexis Mac Allister. Gross covered every blade of grass and hardly wasted a pass.

It was Lallana who opened the scoring with a quarter of an hour on the clock. The former Southampton captain played a one-two with March, meeting the return pass with a header which he refused to celebrate against his old club.

Not that anybody in the packed Albion away end followed Lallana’s approach. Brighton led at St Mary’s and fans were dreaming of a repeat of that famous after when Gus Poyet He Who Must Not Be Named secured a 3-1 win over Southampton in his first game at the helm a little over 13 years ago.

The Albion enjoyed a remarkable 75 percent possession in the opening stages. Southampton rallied slightly around the 30 minute mark without ever really testing Robert Sanchez and no home supporter could have any complaints when Brighton doubled their lead 10 before the break.

Pervis Estupinan went on a charge forward from left back of the sort which marked him out as one of the most exciting players in the group stage of the World Cup.

Gavin Bazunu should have gathered Estupinan’s low cross but he made a right Horlicks out of it. Saints defender Romain Perraud was under pressure from March as he turned the ball into his own net from a yard.

Brighton went from a fortunate second to a magical third. Solly March has been unable to buy a goal for love nor money so far this season, including when doing a fine impression of Jonny Wilkinson by skying the penalty which could have won Brighton their shootout at the Valley a million miles over the bar.

There could have been no better way for March to bounce back from that disappointment or break his long-running duck than by netting an absolute screamer early in the second half.

Cutting inside from the right flank, March hit an unstoppable drive from 25 yards into the top corner of Bazunu’s goal.

Not even three keepers would have kept it out and you could see from the joy on the terraces and on the pitch just how much it meant to Albion players and fans for March to get the monkey off his back in such style.

It was game over at that point, although Sanchez did his bit to make the final 20 minutes more tense than necessary. The Saints won a penalty which Sanchez received a booking for when delaying its taking.

To the surprise of everyone, the Albion goalkeeper kept the spot kick out; the first ever penalty save of his Brighton career. Unfortunately, it did not matter as James Ward-Prowse converted the rebound to make it Southampton 1-3 Brighton.

Sanchez then went onto loose his mind in an altercation with Che Adams. The home crowd were screaming for a second yellow to be delivered to Sanchez but he went unpunished as Colwill was awarded a free kick.

It could so easily have been a red card for Sanchez, Jason Steele on for the closing stages and then having to keep goal against Arsenal at the Amex on New Year’s Day.

That game with the Gunners is one to rightly be excited about. Brighton have become something of a bogey team for Arsenal over the past few seasons and if the Albion were to beat the Premier League leaders, it would rank as their most remarkable victory and performance of the season.

Remarkable for now, but we might have to start getting used to this under De Zerbi. Jingle bells, jingle bells, jingle all the way. Oh what fun it is to see Brighton win away.